According to The Guardian, Niu Lai has seen a major step up at box office, despite discourse surrounding the film’s low-quality. The film released August 5 and had less than 300 tickets sold, gaining 7,700 yuan. Although the film did not have a promotional tour or a trailer, online commentary sparked curiosity from movie go-ers.
Reviews for Niu Lai, translating to The Cow Is Coming, have been a mixture of positive and negative. A film review on Douban stated “In an era where AI is so popular, did the creative team choose a handcrafted, somewhat crude visual style to convey a sense of ‘returning to one’s true self?’” However, few comments have been made from professionals criticizing the film and how a low-budget film can outdo higher quality films, with a reviewer saying Niu Lai, “feels like an embarrassment to the Chinese film industry”.
An anonymous film industry insider stated that Niu Lai was “bad in every aspect imaginable, including the story, special effects and almost every element that a movie is expected to have. Ironically, this is exactly what attracted audience curiosity.”
Niu Lai centers around a skylark and newborn calf developing a relationship during a dream sequence.
Director Yumeng Xin and writer Lifang Sun make up the cast with the director voicing Niulai and the writer voicing the mother of Niulai.
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